9 Then the fifth messenger blew his trumpet and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth, and he/it[fn] was given the key to the deep, dark pit. 2 When he/it unlocked and opened that pit, smoke came up out of it like the smoke of a large furnace,[ref] and the smoke darkened the sun and the air. 3 Then locusts came out of the smoke and descended on the land,[ref] and they were given stinging power like the large scorpions of the earth. 4 However the locusts were told that they shouldn’t harm the grass or any green plants or trees, but only those people who didn’t have God’s mark on their foreheads.[ref] 5 They weren’t given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like that of a scorpion when it strikes a person. 6 People in those days will try to die, but won’t be able to—they will long to die, but death will run away from them.[ref]

7 The locusts looked like horses that had been prepared for battle,[ref] with something on their heads that were similar to golden crowns and their faces being like human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.[ref] 9 They wore chestplates that seemed to be made of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses rushing into battle pulling chariots.[ref] 10 They had tails with stingers like scorpions which had the power to harm people for five months. 11 They had a king in charge of them who’s the messenger of the deep pit—his name is ‘Destroyer’. (‘Avadon’ in Hebrew and ‘Apolluon’ in Greek.)

12 The first terrible event has now passed, but there are still two more to follow.